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Category — Google Android Apps
Google Kicks Out Largest Android Adware Family From The Play Store

Google Kicks Out Largest Android Adware Family From The Play Store

Mar 14, 2017
With the rise in the mobile market, Adware has become one of the most prevalent mobile threats in the world. Adware has traditionally been used to aggressively push ads like banners or pop-ups on mobile screens to make money. The troublesome part is that Adware is now becoming trojanized and more sophisticated, as it aggressively collects personal data from the mobile device it's installed on, including name, birth date, location, serial number, contacts, and browser data without users' consent. However, the risk is a bit higher on Android than other platforms because of the extra permissions that apps enjoy. Although Google has stepped up its efforts to remove potentially harmful apps from its Play Store in the past years and added more stringent malware checks for new apps, Adware app eventually finds its way into its mobile app marketplace to target millions of Android users. In its recent efforts to make its Play Store ecosystem safe, Google has recently discover...
Android Instant Apps — Run Apps Quickly Without Installation

Android Instant Apps — Run Apps Quickly Without Installation

May 19, 2016
Downloading an app is a real pain sometimes when you don't want to install the complete app on your smartphone just for booking a movie ticket, or buying something online. Isn't that? Now, Imagine the world where you can use any Android app without actually the need to download or even install it on your smartphone. This is exactly what Google has intended to offer you with its all new Instant Apps feature. Announced at Google I/O event Wednesday, Android Instant Apps will break down the walls between websites and Android apps by allowing people to tap on a URL and open an Android app instantly, without even having to install it. As a live demonstration, Google's presenter on stage showed how just clicking a Buzzfeed Video link, which has a dedicated app, opened the relevant part of an app — all in just 2 seconds. Also Read: Google Unveils AI-powered Smart Messaging App In another demonstration, the presenter showed a link to buy a camera bag at B&H Ph...
Want to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management? Start Here!

Want to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management? Start Here!

Dec 05, 2024Attack Surface / Exposure Management
Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...
Russia Rejects Google's Appeal and Orders to Stop Pre-Installing its own Android Apps

Russia Rejects Google's Appeal and Orders to Stop Pre-Installing its own Android Apps

Mar 16, 2016
The Giant search engine Google has lost an anti-monopoly appeal in Russia against ruling related to its Android mobile OS The Moscow Arbitration Court on Monday ruled that Google had violated its dominant position with the help of its free open source mobile platform " Android " by forcing its own apps and services like Youtube, Google Map, and others, on users — reducing competition. The complaint was brought against Google last February by competing search engine Yandex — Russian Counterpart of Google — which had argued that Google broke competition rules by requiring handset manufacturers to pre-install its apps on Android phones and tablets. Yandex-1, Google-0 According to the survey conducted by Liveinternet data in September 2013, Yandex accounted 57.4% of the Russian search market, while Google shared 34.9%. This stats reflected in the share market, as their shares were 62.2 and 26 percent respectively. These statistical analyzes really worried...
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Innovate Securely: Top Strategies to Harmonize AppSec and R&D Teams

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Tackle common challenges to make security and innovation work seamlessly.
Bug in Gmail app for Android Allows anyone to Send Spoofed Emails

Bug in Gmail app for Android Allows anyone to Send Spoofed Emails

Nov 14, 2015
A security researcher has discovered an interesting loophole in Gmail Android app that lets anyone send an email that looks like it was sent by someone else, potentially opening doors for Phishers. This is something that we call E-mail Spoofing – the forgery of an e-mail header so that the email appears to have originated from someone other than the actual source. Generally, to spoof email addresses, an attacker needs: A working SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server to send email A M ailing Software However, an independent security researcher, Yan Zhu , discovered a similar bug in official Gmail Android app that allowed her to hide her real email address and change her display name in the account settings so that the receiver will not be able to know the actual sender. How to Send Spoofed Emails via Gmail Android App? To demonstrate her finding, Zhu sent an email to someone by changing her display name to yan ""security@google.com" (w...
Why We Love Android M (And You Should, Too!)

Why We Love Android M (And You Should, Too!)

Jun 11, 2015
Google has recently announced its latest version of the mobile operating system called Android M at its official Google I/O 2015 developer event May 28 in San Francisco. We don't know exactly what is the ' M ' stands for just yet. My guess is it could be Marzipan or maybe Milky Way. Let me know what you guys think, so write me your guesses down below in the comments. Android M is not going to be an immense move in look or architecture like Android Lollipop , but it is bringing some eye-catching upgrades that you are going to love. However, after a Google I/O event and having the Developer Preview of Android M and installing it in my Nexus 6, I have got a pretty good idea what I think are the top 10 Best New Features of Android M. PRIVACY AND APP CONTROL 1. Powerful App Permissions Manager: The biggest change that Google's Android M will bring is a granular permissions system, somewhat similar to what Apple has. Currently, Android app permissions...
Android 'Trusted Voice': My Voice Is My Password

Android 'Trusted Voice': My Voice Is My Password

Apr 14, 2015
Today device unlocking has become far more secure over the years, from PIN number unlock to Pattern unlock and biometric unlocks including fingerprinting and facial recognition. But... ...What If Your Android Device Can Identify Your Voice before authenticating any access? This exactly what Google is trying to provide its Android 5.0 Lollipop users. Users running Android 5.0 Lollipop on their smartphone devices may soon be able to unlock their devices simply by saying " OK Google ." " Smart Lock " is one of the most convenient security features provided in Lollipop that offers a handful of clever ways to unlock an Android device automatically, which yet includes: Trusted Device Trusted Places Trusted Face However, Google is now rolling out a new smart lock, dubbed " Trusted Voice ," that uses your voice as a password to unlock your device. Just as your fingerprint or face recognition is considered distinctive enough for biom...
Google Now Manually Reviews Play Store Android App Submissions

Google Now Manually Reviews Play Store Android App Submissions

Mar 18, 2015
Google has changed the way it managed apps on the Google Play Store . After years of depending on the automated app check process, the company just made some changes to its Play Store policies  that will successfully weed out malicious and undesirable apps from Google Play store. Google has introduced an update for developers and users that's sure to make some parents happy and some developers sad. The new features are — Better App Review Process Age-Based Rating System BETTER APP REVIEW PROCESS The search engine giant announced on Tuesday that it has started employing humans to review apps before they go live on the Google Play Store , a move intended to " better protect the community " and " improve the app catalog ." The new approach would definitely affect app developers, as they'll have to wait for their apps to be approved by Google after they submit them to the Play Store. But, it would keep users safe from harmful malware or offensive content. ...
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